This week Gloria Bastos is joined by Jowilna Nolte of Scrapcouture and they’ll be showing the interesting possibilities of working with cards. First they make a Faux Blackboard Technique Card and then later make mini card inserts to spruce up a plain file.
Dressing up Project Life cards
By Jowilna Nolte
Scrapcouture
Project life cards don’t have to be expensive and purpose made, but you can rather use your scraps and things you have on hand to fill your albums creatively. Here are a few ways of doing just that…
- Print your photos to the size of your pockets. Emboss the corner of a photo using your embossing folders and your Cuttlebug machine. Then lightly sand the top raised surface of the embossing using a sanding block to highlight the pattern.
- Emboss plain cardstock or patterned paper with embossing folders and ink the top edge of the embossed pattern to highlight the details.
- Add buttons to project life cards that has a printed message on them – remember to sew the buttons with thread to finish them off nicely. “A button that is not sewn is not really a button”
- Add word word stickers to photos and cards – sentiments, phrases and your own handwriting can add so much more to a plain printed card. It will add colour and dimension to any pattern.
- Brads, diamante and chipboard letters is a nice way of adding details quickly to dress up a bland looking photo or Project Life card.
TIP: to add diamante to your card easily without getting adhesive on your hands – add a small drop of adhesive to your paper, then use a white wax crayon and gently press onto the diamante, the diamante to stick to the crayon, now lift the wax crayon and place the diamante on top of the glue on your paper. As soon as the diamante touches the glue it will let go of the crayon.
You can also use your wax crayon to lift small punched flowers and other elements like paper flowers easily.
- Punch shapes out of scrap cardstock pieces and adhere them to your photos and project life cards.
These are quick and easy ways to use elements ion your Project Life album that you may already own. You don’t have to spend loads of money to create or preserve those precious memories!
Faux Blackboard Technique Card
By Jowilna Nolte
Scrapcouture
Requirements
- Black Versamagic ink pad
- White cardstock
- White wax crayon
- Cuttlebug machine
- Cuttlebug embossing folders
- Folded card base
- Patterned paper strips
- Stamped tag or image
- Buttons
- Diamante
- Thread and needle
- Paper piercer
- Piercing matt
- Old cloth
Instructions
Step 1:
On a piece of white cardstock, emboss a pattern using the Cuttlebug machine and an embossing folder of your choice.
Step 2:
Remove the embossed piece from the machine and place on your work surface. Use scrap paper or a craft sheet to protect your work surface.
Step 3:
Remove the paper wrapping from a white wax crayon. Turn the crayon horizontally and on the long side run the crayon over the embossed surface to transfer the wax onto the raised areas of your cardstock. Make sure you get quite a bit of crayon onto the cardstock.
Step 4:
Use the black Versamagic ink pad and tap it onto the entire piece of embossed paper. Make sure the entire piece is covered in a solid layer of black ink. Leave the ink to dry for a few minutes. Use an old lint free cloth and lightly buff the black ink. Some of the ink will be removed as it resists the wax crayon layer underneath. The buffing reveals some of the white crayon and the overall finished look is that of a blackboard.
Step 5:
Trim the piece smaller to fit onto the front of your folded card base.
Step 6:
Trim two strips of patterned paper smaller to fill in the bottom part of your card. Adhere to the card front and trim off any overlapping pieces. Ink the edges to cover up any cutting marks.
Step 7:
Stamp tag image onto cardstock and adhere to the front of the card.
Step 8:
You can now add the various embellishments to your card, using the diamante and buttons to finish off your card. You can also hand sew your buttons onto your card. This will give it a more handmade feel.
Step 9:
The final step is to stick a piece of paper to the inside of your card. This will also hide any sewing threads that are sticking out.